BOLT THROWER — Honour - Valour - Pride (review)

BOLT THROWER — Honour - Valour - Pride album cover Album · 2001 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Honour - Valour - Pride" is the 7th full-length studio album by UK death metal act Bolt Thrower. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in November 2001. After performing the vocals for "Mercenary (1998)", lead vocalist Karl Willetts left Bolt Thrower again and the band recruited former Benediction frontman Dave Ingram to replace him. Ingram was a fan and longtime friend of the band so his inclusion was a natural step. The drummer position also saw a change as Martin Kearns, who played with Bolt Thrower in the 1994 - 1997 period returned to the fold and replaced Alex Thomas who had played the drums on "Mercenary (1998)".

Despite the lineup changes Bolt Thrower as usual sound unmistakably like...well Bolt Thrower. While Dave Ingram is a slightly weaker vocalist than Karl Willetts and it seems to me he isn´t given much room to put his own mark on the material, his vocal performance here is alright and more or less fits the music like a glove. With Bolt Thrower you always know what you´re gonna get. Simple yet effective downtuned riffs, heavy beats, war/battle themed lyrics/imagery and deep growling yet intelligible vocals in front. So far...so good.

The sound production on the album does drag my rating down a bit though (why are Dave Ingram´s vocals so low in the mix?). It´s not bad but it´s slightly weaker than the sound on "Mercenary (1998)" and much weaker than the sound on "...for Victory (1994)". I don´t think the material is quite as interesting or memorable as was the case on the last couple of albums either, but we´re of course still talking quality old school death metal with a distinct sound. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is warranted.
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